Free Republic

Ricardo Nunez was trimming a tree outside his Echo Park home on a Sunday morning last month when a white truck pulled up and a person inside opened fire, killing the 35-year-old father. Ray Martinez, the LAPD detective investigating the case, is seeing fewer such fatal drive-by shootings. When Martinez goes behind the yellow tape, he's more commonly working on cases where a gunman has walked straight up to the victim — a walk-up shooting. As gang culture has become less overt, the killings have become more targeted — and at the same time more chilling. "They get to see...

The American Tort Reform Assn calls NYC's asbestos court the nation’s top “judicial hellhole”. Silver has been blocking tort-reform bills for decades. Silver's arrest centers on his no-show legal work for asbestos-profiteer, Weitz and Luxemberg, (as well as millions in bribes and kickbacks from fixing real-estate cases)..... judges with ties to Silver and his lifelong pal, Jonathan Lippman, the chief judge of the state Court of Appeals, presided over the cases. Silver was “of counsel” to Weitz & Luxemberg which earned unusual fast-track “red-carpet treatment” “better judges” and first dibs on jurors. Sherry Klein Heitler, the chief asbestos judge (at...

Brenden LaRosa showed up to protest during First Night festivities with a message: Americans must talk to each other about race and policing, no matter how hard — or how unpopular — the conversation is. “We almost want people to feel uncomfortable. Then you’re forced to answer this question, and you’re forced to question the way you feel about it,” said the 19-year-old from Everett, who joined other demonstrators Wednesday evening in Copley Square. He estimated that he has been to five protests against the recent grand jury decisions not to indict white officers who killed unarmed black men in...

WASHINGTON — After six years and a $40-million investigation, the Democratic-led Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to release conclusions this month from its controversial probe of CIA detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects overseas during the George W. Bush administration. The partly redacted report is likely to renew the national debate over now-banned techniques that critics decried as torture and which supporters insist were necessary to stop further terrorist plots after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. embassies in the Middle East, North Africa and other parts of the Islamic world have been told to prepare for the possibility...

WFTV in Orlando, Florida reported Friday about a callous, violent robbery of an elderly white woman by three young black men that left the woman hospitalized with a serious brain injury and a broken clavicle. The Publix surveillance videos released to the media show rare, clear before, during and after video of the victim, the perps and the robbery. There will be no protests, no candlelight vigils, no statement by President Barack Obama, no Justice Department investigation, no visits by Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. The race ‘healers’ won’t descend on Ocoee like they are doing in Ferguson this week...

Hearings first step to firing educators9 accused Atlanta educators to go before tribunals next week By Jaime Sarrio The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5:38 a.m. Friday, March 9, 2012 Atlanta Public Schools next week will hold the first in a series of hearings necessary to fire educators accused of cheating, the district confirmed Thursday. After months of delay and millions spent in payroll and legal expenses, nine educators suspected of some of the most egregious of the school system’s widespread test cheating are scheduled to go before a tribunal. For the school district, it’s a chance to bring resolution to a case...

Many in U.S. Are Arrested by Age 23, Study FindsBy ERICA GOODE Published: December 19, 2011 By age 23, almost a third of Americans have been arrested for a crime, according to a new study that researchers say is a measure of growing exposure to the criminal justice system in everyday life. The study, the first since the 1960s to look at the arrest histories of a national sample of adolescents and young adults over time, found that 30.2 percent of the 23-year-olds who participated reported having been arrested for an offense other than a minor traffic violation. That figure...

Occupy Seattle leaves behind big mess for Seattle parks workersChris Egert KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Updated: 12:35 pm PDT October 11, 2011 SEATTLE -- Should Occupy Seattle protesters have to clean up after themselves? A KIRO 7 overnight news crew shot video of some of the mess left behind in Westlake Park. City Parks and Recreation crews have spent mornings cleaning up from 11 days of Occupy Seattle demonstrations. Along with rain-soaked signs, KIRO 7 crews counted at least four parks workers taking every sign and piece of tape off the columns at Westlake Park. The garbage has filled about...

Occupy Wall Street does have a messageBy The Kansas City Star Last updated on Thursday, Oct 13, 2011 at 12:12 am **SNIP** “I think what they’re doing is lobbying in an unorthodox way,” said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, who observed the protests in New York over the weekend. “The main message is: ‘We are tired of allowing the federal government to lean toward the wealthy.’” There is no denying that a vast segment of Congress is beholden to policies that favor wealthy corporations and financial interests and very rich individuals — exactly the interests that are...

TOPEKA, KANSAS Showing no discernible limit to their insensitivity, and seemingly eager to puff out their chests in the wake of their recent Supreme Court victory, the Westboro Baptist Church issued a press release stating they plan to protest at the funeral of the seven Clouse children killed in a tragic fire in Perry County this week. The release is full of bluster over their Supreme Court victory and claims the fire was a result of God's wrath for Pennsylvania. After all, isn't that where the man who sued them for protesting his son's funeral and inititiated a landmark free...

'Speech or debate' clause invoked in investigations of House membersBy Jerry Markon and R. Jeffrey Smith Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, January 17, 2011; 12:19 AM A constitutional clash over whether House members are immune from many forms of Justice Department scrutiny has helped derail or slow several recent corruption investigations of lawmakers, according to court documents and sources. At issue is a provision in the Constitution known as the "speech or debate" clause, which shields legislative work from executive branch interference. House members have increasingly asserted the privilege in corruption probes, often citing a 2007 court ruling that said...

“Let's talk about what that mass civil disobedience is going to look like. "If you're one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically-elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work. And we be many, but you be few.”

Somewhere – wherever his eternal home is – Dick Nixon is smiling today. He pulled a lot of shady, underhanded, illegal stuff in his life. But he’s potentially giving the Commander in Chief props today. On Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange was brought to its knees by what many reports are saying was “one stray trade” or “one mistakenly stroked key” on a keyboard. Investigators are trying to find the singular cause of the problem that caused the largest point swing in the history of investments. On Thursday afternoon, CNBC’s Money Honey, Maria Bartiromo, said, “I mean this really...

The Jeffersons can stop fretting about their reputation: Stephanie GraceBy Stephanie Grace, The Times-Picayune November 15, 2009, 5:36AM Mose Jefferson, convicted brother of a convicted former congressman, recently asked a federal judge to delay his Dec. 10 sentencing for one crime so as not to prejudice potential jurors in his Jan. 25 trial on allegations of another, which is related to neither his nor his famous sibling's prior indictment. At this point, you've got to wonder: Why bother? **SNIP** What she didn't say is that timing really doesn't matter, because any damage to the collective Jefferson reputation is already done....

U.S., Iran move closer to nuclear dealRegional security concerns and diplomacy clear a path to a multinational agreement in which Tehran would transfer its nuclear material abroad to be processed for medical purposes. By Borzou Daragahi October 22, 2009 Reporting from Beirut - Deft diplomacy and regional security woes are driving Tehran and Washington toward a deal on Iran's nuclear program, experts say, illustrated by movement Wednesday in talks to transfer most of the Islamic Republic's fissile material abroad to be processed for medical uses. For three decades, Iran and the U.S. have been locked in a frustrating diplomatic flirtation....

Dems to reveal how they'll pay for healthcareBy Mike Soraghan Posted: 07/06/09 05:17 PM [ET] By the end of this week, House Democrats may have answered the biggest question looming in the healthcare debate – how they plan to pay for their overhaul. Leadership aides say they will introduce a bill by Thursday or Friday, in preparation for votes in committee next week. And that bill, they say, will include a way to pay for the bill. “It is premature to point to any specific provision, but the House is committed to ensure that healthcare reform is paid for,” said...

Groups want ethics probe of Murtha, othersBy Sean Lengell Saturday, May 2, 2009 Four political watchdog groups that typically support Democratic causes want a congressional ethics panel to probe ties between three House Democrats and the defunct Washington lobbying firm, the PMA Group, which benefited from the lawmakers' help. In a letter Thursday to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the groups Common Cause, Public Citizen, Democracy 21 and U.S. PIRG asked for the panel to investigate whether Reps. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana and James P. Moran of Virginia were influenced by...

Catastrophic Climate Future: Are We That Stupid?Andrea Thompson Senior Writer LiveScience.com Wed Apr 29, 1:11 pm ET Most of us have heard the predictions: the meltdown of Arctic sea ice and mountain-top glaciers; extinction of species ranging from polar bears to coral reefs; catastrophic sea level rise that could eventually force the relocation of millions of coastal residents. Heat waves, malnutrition and famine, and wildfires would also be a greater risk to human communities if carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere are allowed to rise too high. Specifically, these could be the characteristics of a world where carbon dioxide has...

I have been told by a social worker that 1 in 4 children will be sexually abused by the time they are 18 years old. She is offering no proof to back up her numbers other than one advocacy website. I simply do NOT believe these numbers.

Bill would banish teachers who abuseBy Steven K. Paulson, Associated Press Friday, April 18, 2008 With no debate and no dissent, the Colorado House gave initial approval Friday to a bill that would require teachers convicted of child abuse or unlawful sexual behavior to agree never to teach again anywhere in this country. One lawmaker read a long list of accusations against teachers in Colorado for assaulting children, then noted those cases occurred in just one month. **SNIP** She said school districts do background checks when teachers are hired, but the state currently has no way to determine whether teachers...